Demolition underway on former Summerhill convent building

Demolition work on the former St Joseph's Convent in Summerhill is continuing and is due to be fully completed in several weeks.

The spire and roof of the premises have already come down, and the work now is focused on the main premises which is essentially now a shell.

The demolition contractor on the project under the auspices of the Diocese of Elphin is Frank Higgins of Ardrahan in Galway.

“It started about a month ago really, and it's due for completion in three to four weeks,” Coláiste Chiaráin Principal Brendan Waldron explained on Monday, adding that it doesn't have any day-to-day effect on the school.

“We're in discussions as to the future of the entire site including that area,” added Mr Waldron, and that's happening with the diocese and the wider school community and stakeholders. “We're hoping we would have some idea on that as soon as possible. We're looking at developing it for future use (by the school).

The former convent, which dates back to the mid to late 19th century, covers a footprint of around 1.5 acres, including several outbuildings, and was in a “dilapidated state” in recent times, the school principal outlined.

While he acknowledged there was a discussion about the former convent's future use, there was no viable option for the years ahead identified.

Back in February 2020, Roscommon County Council approved the demolition of the old convent buildings in Summerhill, including the former Summerhill Orphanage, despite environmental trust An Taisce saying the late 19th-century complex was of “architectural value.” However, the building was not listed by the local authority as a protected structure.

In a letter in the planning file, Bishop of Elphin, Kevin Doran, said “the diocese has no particular use in mind for the old convent buildings in the grounds of Summerhill, Athlone. Neither does the diocese have the kind of resources that would be required for the restoration of the building.”

While Drum Heritage Group expressed concern at the time, saying it would be “a great shame” to see such a historical building demolished, the group did not make an official submission during the planning process.

According to the book 'Celebrating 21 years of Living History in Drum' it was at the then Summerhill House, latterly Summerhill convent and school, that Daniel O'Connell addressed a massive Repeal Meeting on Sunday, June 18, 1843 attended by in excess of 150,000 people.

A one-time seat of the Gaynor family, a day school was initially established on the site by the Ursuline Sisters at the height of the Famine, however, they later left Summerhill and the Mercy Sisters took their place in the 1880s running the orphanage, according to a brief history of the school on the Coláiste Chiaráin website. In later years, a successful boarding school was run on-site, and latterly a day secondary school for girls in the area.

In 2017, Athlone's newest co-educational secondary school – Coláiste Chiaráin – opened its doors on the Summerhill site, an amalgamation of St Aloysius College and St Joseph's College, Summerhill.

A state-of-the-art new school for the co-educational Coláiste Chiaráin opened in September of 2020.